Just Like Old Times
by DancingOnTheWaves
Summary: Continuation of the manga. Almost three years have passed since Naru left for England but that hasn't stopped Mai from battling ghosts! However her psychic powers have increased dramatically, endangering not just her life but others, and not just the living . . . Bit of an awkward summary. It is mainly Mai x Naru but I've tried to include a bit of something for everyone. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

As soon as she got through the door of her flat, her facade crumbled. She let the tears pour out of the brown pools that were her eyes and tried her best to keep her whimpers quiet so as not to alert her neighbours. She made herself walk to her bedroom where she promptly collapsed on to her bed. Curling herself into a ball she placed a pillow over her mouth so she could howl into it, and although it was against her will, she let the thoughts of that day consume her until she was rocked into a turmoil of ragged sleep. Naru's face haunted her dreams that night and his eyes pierced her straight through to her core, as if guaranteeing her already broken heart was smashed into unfixable pieces.

6 months later

Mai had decided that for her new year's resolution she would cheer up for her friends, she could tell that they were starting to get depressed themselves and she didn't want to cause trouble for anyone. She looked at herself in the mirror, right she decided, time for a change.

A further 6 months onward

She stared at the room. The curtains were shredded, the carpet was torn up from the floor and the coffee table had been thrown and smashed against a wall. The sofa had flipped over and there were little remains of anything else in the room. Had she really done this with her powers? She pulled her phone from her jeans pocket and called Monk with a slightly shaky voice.

Chapter 1

Present day

Mai Taniyama was nearly all grown up. She had grown her hair out so it now sat a couple of inches below her shoulders. Her style had changed from her comfy tomboy clothes to a more on trend fashion, she wore make up now but it was always natural, highlighting her brown amber eyes. At 18 she had just left college and was heading towards University this year. She was currently driving to Monks house for her daily psychic session, her powers had grown considerably in the last two years and she had asked monk to teach her how to control them.

She had stayed in touch with everybody after Naru's departure, phoning them up every now and then to catch up on each other's lives. Yasu didn't attend the same university as Mai but the buildings were close enough so they could go and grab lunch or study together. Masako had gotten over Naru rather speedily as she was now the proud girlfriend of a producers son, whenever they were together you could see how much they adored each other and their parents had both given the relationship their blessing. Ayako and Monk were still exactly the same however there was certainly a something going on. John now commuted from australia and still exorcised spirits on the side of his church duties. Turning right into a side road, Mai pulled up outside Monk's bungalow and grinned as she saw Ayako step out the front door . . .

7pm, The Corner (AN: this is the name of the restaurant Mai works at. I know it's lame but ya know, my creative thinking dried up)

Tucking the black tailored shirt into her black slim fit trousers, Mai proceeded to tie the small, equally black apron around her slim waist and closed her locker door before stepping out on the restaurant floor. "Tables 3, 9, 10, 16 and 21 please Mai" said the head waiter "Sure thing" Mai smile, walking over to greet her first table. Returning to the kitchen she gave the order before turning to do another table. She felt a sudden sensation of someone watching her and she turned, but the head chef was yelling at the cooks and they were obediently following his orders. She frowned. Exiting the kitchen she shrugged of the feeling and carried on with her work. Behind her a pair of unseen eyes vanished in the steam of the kitchen.

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11:30pm The Corner Mai was feeling exhausted. She was also extremely unnerved. The feeling of being watched hadn't gone away all evening and she kept spinning around because of a presence she felt directly behind her. She tried her best to ignore it, seeking comfort in the fact that she was not alone at any time during the evening with all the customers and staff around. Contrasting the lively customers that had now left the classy dining area, Mai was now alone with less than a handful of staff and she was very aware of that fact.

"Um, Haruhi, have you felt like you've been watched this evening at all?" Mai asked turning to her work friend. Haruhi's eyes widened and nodded her head, her black hair bobbing in its pony tail as she did so.

"Yeah, I have! It's the strangest feeling, I keep seeing something out the corner of my eye as well or I'll think someone's behind me." she gushed.

"Really!? I thought that was only happening to me! Hey Takahiro!" A sleepy looking teen about Mai's age with great hair looked over towards them.

"Have you felt like you've been watched tonight?!" He stared back, slightly shocked, "Y-yeah I have. I've felt kinda strange all the time I've been here" They looked at each other, something spooky was going on.

"Hey Mai, didn't you use to work for a ghost hunter?" Haruhi questioned innocently.

" I did but he's in England now so he wouldn't be much use." She replied cooly, "I can ask my old colleagues if they could do something. Although we may just be over reacting" she tried to joke. Unsuccessfully.

They were standing together in a group now, deep in thought.

"Well it wouldn't hurt would it?" a voice asked making all three jump. Natsume closed the locker door that had been concealing her face. She smiled at them "and if Mai knows them then they would probably do it for free right? Besides, I'm really creeped out by it, I don't like being spied on at the best of times."

With that she bid them good night and left via the backdoor.

"She does have a point" Takahiro offered. "Hmmm. Well we'll ask the manager tomorrow night that way we can see if this is gonna keep occurring." Haruhi said, they agreed and prepared to leave together. They were now the last ones left in the buildings and they hurried to get out of it, the presence of someone watching their every move was gradually building up. Suddenly the light bulbs blew and the temperature started to drop.

They all froze and looked at each other.

"Whatever you do," Mai said calmly, "stay together and away from anything that could fall or fly at you."

They stood in a huddle with their backs to each other so that there was a pair of their eyes on every inch of the room. Mai felt a cold space to her left . . . Suddenly Haruhi flew across the room and landed in a heap against the wall, she yelped as a slow burning pain spread steadily through her ankle. Her head yanked up as an outline of a person slammed her head back against the wall. Mai and Takahiro shouted her name and ran over to her.

"I think now would be a good time to leave" stated Mai. Takahiro nodded and picked up the unconscious Haruhi and walked very quickly to the door. Mai gripped the handle and pulled it down. It stuck. She tried again. It stayed stuck.

Turning she whispered to Takahiro, "It won't open." He visibly paled and tried to think of another exit route. Mai was starting to panic. _'How on earth are we going to get out?!_' The lockers started to tremble and shake and Mai had a feeling that the ghost was about to send them right towards her and her friends. She whirled around to the door, prepared to use her powers to open it when an unseen force started to drag her back.

She screamed and struggled to escape. She could hear Takahiro calling her name. Think Mai! She slammed her hands together and started chanting the warding magic Monk had drummed into her long ago. Letting her psychic barrier open a little, she instantly felt her powers swarm through her and she raised her voice as a low howl began to stir in the room. The grip loosened on her arms and she quickly tore free. She whipped around to find herself a couple of inches away from a twisted face. Its eyes were blank, staring her down, the iris and pupil compressed so small you would've thought they weren't there at all.

For a whole second Mai faced off with this unknown terror before her adrenaline swelled and coursed through her veins. The mental shield she had spent months building disintegrated in a heartbeat. Her power flooded through her. She felt alive again. Leaping back she hollered the nine cuts into the ghosts face. With a scream, it dispersed into nothingness but she knew it was still in the room.

Bolting to the door she yanked the handle and with her sheer force of will the door flew open, yelling at Takahiro to hurry up the three friends dashed out the restaurant. Mai slammed the door and locked it shut. The adrenaline was still pumping through her causing her hands to shake. Haruhi was beginning to come round and Takahiro looked to be in utter shock. Mai tugged her phone out her jacket pocket and called Monk, then Ayako and told them the address and what had happened. She fell to her knees beside the two shocked colleagues.

"Well" she breathed, "that happened."


	2. Chapter 2

**Helllloooooo! I'm DancingOnTheWaves and I am literally so happy you all seem to like my story, so far anyway. I will most likely upload weekly on Wednesday so stay tuned! This chapter is apparently a bit violent and graphic according to my friend but I don't think it is too terrible (and I'm the type who hides behind cushions at horror movies) but just in case, you have been warned ! And now on with the story . . .**

**Mai's Dream  
** I was suddenly standing in a kitchen. It looked to be of a professional design with the stainless steel work tops gleaming in the dim light. The layout seemed familiar. . . A scream shattered the ominous quietness of the kitchen. I whipped my head from left to right but I couldn't see anything. I spotted the swing door to the restaurant floor and burst through it. I stumbled instead, into a locker room. This seemed to be the original locker room before they extended it to cater to the needs for the large amount of staff the boss had employed. I abruptly stopped and stared in horror at the scene that was playing out before me.  
"You killed her, you're the one who killed my wife! She was INNOCENT! She didn't deserve to die! You MUREDER!"

"I didn't-I-I-didn't-"

"ENOUGH!"  
I was completely paralyzed with fear, this man was so filled with hate, it seemed to seep into the air from his body, staining it an ugly colour. There was a foul smell in the air. I tried to cover my mouth and nose with my hand but I couldn't move an inch. I started trembling. The man continued to scream and curse at a cowering figure at his feet. Then he moved. I saw the glint of a knife in his hand. He was enraged. Brimming with anger. Malice boiled in his eyes. I had never been so terrified in my life. _Please_, _please someone! If this is a dream, wake me up! I don't want to_ _be here!_ The man brought the knife down on an already bleeding man who was desperately trying to escape. I noticed the rope that had his limbs bound together. _STOP IT!_ I didn't want to see this. Tears were flooding down my face. The knife came down again. _NO! STOP IT!_ The man on the floor shuddered as he let go of his last breath. The man who had killed him spat at the body. I let out a whimper. The man suddenly straightened up quickly, hearing the noise.  
"No. No. Please. No." the words came out of my mouth involuntary. The man paused.  
"It is only fair. But I will make it quick" he said softly however there was an edge to his raspy voice. I turned to run, my body finally obeying my commands but he reached out and grabbed my hair, dragging me back. A scream tore out of my throat as the blade flashed to my exposed neck.

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**3:00 am Takigawa's bungalow  
**Monk and Ayako were watching Mai as she continued to fit on her bed. She had been fitting for 10 minutes now and there didn't seem to be any sign of her stopping. Ayako had phoned an ambulance, after the first five minutes and moved the furniture away from her. Ayako was holding back tears as Monk squeezed her hand. They'd woken up when they had heard Mai speaking to the ceiling. Now they looked at the pale girl whose limbs were flying around her, wishing she would stop soon. Mai's eyelids snapped open and her arms and legs fell silent. Monk rushed over. He calmed himself before he talked to her so he didn't alarm and frighten the brunette.  
"Hey kiddo. How ya feeling?" he tried, just keeping the cracks out of his voice. Mai's eyed welled up, she wrapped her arms around Monk and began to wail. Ayako came over to shush her.  
"It's okay Mai. It's okay, you'll be fine, we'll take care of you."  
"A-A-Ayak-ko-ko! I th-thought I was de-e-ead!" Mai choked out.  
"No Mai, you're alive, you just had a dream but, you had a seizure whilst you were asleep. Ok Mai? Ok? So the ambulance is coming and they'll take care of you. We will be with you every step of the way okay?"  
"O-Okay" Mai nodded as she tried calming herself down. She felt exhausted. _A fit?_ She thought. Looking at Monk, he seemed to read her thoughts.  
"We think it was because your mental shield was broken." Mai considered this._ Yeah, that makes sense_. The doorbell rang, alerting the trio that the paramedics were here.

**11:20 - Somewhere in England**  
The tall man looked down at the sleeping boy who was slumped in an arm chair, book open. He sighed heavily, two years, nearly three away from Japan. Noll was becoming increasingly distracted and Lin had a strong suspicion as to why. The professors knew something was wrong and had tried to get him interested in some of the cases they were working on in England but they knew it was pointless. Noll had started reading more books than usual, some weren't even of the paranormal research kind, Lin knew that the narcissist read to detach himself from reality so to speak, and to let his mind wonder and focus on things so the fact that Noll had devoured nearly all the books in his Father's enormous and ever expanding library was worrying to say the least. He exited the room to go and talk to  
the professors once again when his phone buzzed in his pocket.  
"Hello?"  
"Hi, is that Lin?"  
"Takigawa?"  
"Yeah, hi erm, sorry to disturb you at whatever time it is-  
"It's around 11:20 at night"  
"Oh, sorry. I hope I didn't wake you"  
"No I was already awake"  
"Okay then. So the reason I called out of the blue is that . . . well this is hard for me to say . . ."  
Lin waited patiently as Takigawa searches for his words. Being a patient man was a blessing as he had to deal with Naru - Noll - on an everyday basis.  
"The thing is, ever since you guys left, Mai has had a surges in her psychic powers. Like not just astroprojecting and stuff, she started wrecking entire rooms in her sleep and having crazy visions about stuff that would then appear on the news and abnormal powers and -"  
"Abnormal powers?" Lin interrupted.  
"Mm-hm. She has increased PK-ST and ESP."  
Lin was silent. Could that accident prone loud mouthed lovable girl really be capable of all that? In his mind Mai was still a frail petite teenager whose massive heart touched everyone she reached out to.  
"So I taught her some exercises to keep it all under control" Monk continued,  
"and she hasn't had any power surges in months but last night her, um, mental barrier, I guess, broke, and she had a seizure early this morning."  
Lin stopped walking. Mai had a seizure!? Was she okay? Did she have brain damage? How was he going to tell Noll? Despite Lin's cold looking exterior at that moment, his heart was beating fast.  
"Is she ok?!" He asked, not caring about his lack of cool at that moment.  
"Well, we don't know for the time being but the doctors will inform us soon enough."  
Lin breathed in and held his breath before exhaling, he often used this method to calm himself down.  
"What I'm trying to say is, we really need you guys back, I don't know if I'll be able to keep her safe for much longer, my techniques probably won't work anymore." Monk paused before admitting his biggest fear to Lin.  
"I'm scared. She is incredibly powerful. She probably rivals Naru right now but, she's really unstable. I'm terrified she might hurt herself or someone else. We both know she would never be able to forgive herself if she did that."  
Lin silently agreed with Takigawa. Mai needed to be in control of her powers.  
"I agree that this is very concerning so I'll talk to Naru and his parents to see what we can do."  
"Great. Thanks Lin."  
"It's fine besides, it would be nice to see everyone again."  
Lin hung up and renewed his visit to the professors with a subtle eagerness.

**So there you go ^.^ I know it's a bit shorter than the first chapter but the next one is longer! I would also like to thank all the wonderful people who reviewed, you are little angels! I'll see you all next week, Byeeeee xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay so here's the next chapter, enjoy!**

**Chapter 3  
9:06 am - A few days later  
**Mai struggled to hold the bouquets of flowers that she had received whilst in hospital. She looked up as Monk pulled round with the car. 

"That's my ride." Mai said to her nurse who nodded and wheeled her over to the car door. 

"Well Mai, it was a pleasure having you as a patient. If every one of my patients were like you my job would be so much easier!" The nurse said, grinning back at Mai. 

"Take care!" 

"Bye!" 

Mai piled herself into the car and Monk drove away from the hospital. 

"How is the case going?" Mai asked. Monk grimaced. 

"Not too good. Yasu has been swamped with homework so he can't do any research, Masako is busy as is John and Ayako and I have been worried about you so, not much has been done" he concluded. 

"Ah." 

"Yeah, on the upside though, now you're out of hospital, the three of us can get to work!" 

"Awwww." Mai groaned but she knew he was right so she sucked it up and begrudgingly agreed to help.

**Mai's Apartment  
**"Ah home sweet home" Mai breathed as she hauled herself, her flowers and her weekend bag through the narrow door frame. 

"Are you sure you're going to be ok Mai?" Monk asked with concern. 

"I'll be fine. Besides Ayako is staying a couple of nights just to make sure" She smiled happily.  
Takigawa looked around the apartment, Mai now had a smaller less expensive TV and that now seemed to be the trend around the room. Ever since she wrecked it a few months ago, she had taken the precaution of buying less expensive stuff so that if it did wreck again, it wouldn't matter so much. 

"Well okay then but call me if anything happens." He hesitated a moment as he turned to leave, then walked over to Mai and gave her a hug before turning to Ayako. He walked over quickly and clumsily kissed her on the cheek, blushing furiously he quickly hurried out of the apartment before either of the astonished women could comment.

**10:43 pm **  
Mai rolled over in bed and looked at Ayako.  
"Are you gonna tell me what's going on between you and Monk or am I going to have to do some detective work?"  
Ayako huffed and rolled over. 

"Well?" 

A mumbling was heard from the red head. 

"Huh?" 

"I may or may not have certain feelings for a certain shaggy haired bass playing Monk."  
Mai smirked a little. She poked Ayako in the back, who flinched, and proceeded with her questioning. 

"So, how long has this been going on?" 

"Mai . . ." 

"Have you kissed yet?" 

"Mai-"

"Or been on a date?" 

"MAI!" 

"Yes?" 

"Shut up." 

"Well I -" 

"No. Shut Up." 

It was Mai's turn to huff now and she rolled away from Ayako. _'Well I suppose I shouldn't force Ayako _

_to tell me anything'_ She thought, _'I'll just wait. Or interrogate Monk instead._' Mai grinned to herself in the dark and closed her eyes. She started to drift off to sleep when she heard Ayako mutter "It started a couple of months ago, and he took me out to dinner last week."  
Mai opened her eyes and turned over to look at the red head. Ayako kept her eyes closed as her face flamed up to match her fiery hair.

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Papers with vague descriptions of certain people at certain times littered the floor of the apartment. Folders towered over the three people on the floor and paperclips glinted as the sunlight straggled in through the half open curtains. Three thick notebooks lay open with scrawls of writing and the occasional doodle, the three people who these notebooks belonged to were presently snacking on instant ramen.  
"I think we've done rather well" Monk began, "considering the fact that we've learnt everything we need in 48 hours."  
"Hmm yes but some of those hours were spent playing 'how much stuff can we draw on Ayako before she wakes up'!" Ayako retorted as she glared at the two mischievous players before her.  
"Still, all we have to do now is go and exorcise this thing!" Monk shouted.  
"Yeah" Mai agreed. She looked over the notes she had made in her notebook. The guy who had been murdered was Akiko Amano, he had had an ongoing rivalry with the man who had killed him, Gorou Himura. It had started when the two had opened restaurants next to each other. Things had quickly spiralled out of control as nasty pranks were played on the two restaurant owners daily; food would seemingly rot overnight, litter would adorn the previously spotless floors and bad odours would waft in and hang around in the air for days. The police had been called in numerous times to caution and even arrest the two menacing restaurant owners but they never listened. Within days they would turn back to their tricks.  
Things finally stopped when Gorou's wife had died due to arsenic poisoning. Akiko had managed to put some in to all the food in the kitchen. Not enough to kill anybody, but definitely enough to make them as sick as a dog. Unfortunately Gorou had already closed the restaurant to attend a close friend's funeral, reluctantly leaving his wife all alone in the flat which resided above the restaurant. Asahi (Gorou's wife) had extremely poor health and was already sick due to influenza and the stress of her husband and neighbour's constant mischief and malice towards one another. Her sister, who had come over to look after her whilst Gorou was away, went down to the kitchen one morning to prepare a meal for Asahi and herself, ignorant to the fact that it was poisoned.  
Asahi's frail body couldn't take anymore and she had died, suffering, that night.  
Shortly after Gorou came home and found his wife dead. An autopsy was issued and the facts were learnt that Asahi had died due to arsenic poisoning (found in the stomach). Upon receiving the results, Gorou flew in to a frightful rage and stormed into Akiko's house. He was never seen again. At least, not alive. The tragic thing was that Akiko's wife and Asahi's sister were both killed in the brutal bloodshed. It seemed Gorou had gone mad with grief.

Mai shivered slightly. The most horrible thing about this case was that it only happened just less than a year ago, it saddened her to think that people could still behave so violently towards one another. The restaurant she currently worked in had been built over the previous ones; they had both been closed and bull dozed after the serial murders that took place. She re-read through her notes. She frowned. Something seemed a little off about this case, surprisingly she hadn't had anymore dreams to help them out and every time she thought about her first dream, her head went fuzzy and the picture blurred, the sounds muffled. A slight headache pressed lightly on her temples. 

"Mai?" Monk said as he looked up at the petite woman, 

"Are you okay? You look a bit pale." 

Mai raised her head. 

"Ah, I'm fine I'm just getting a slight headache, it's probably from all the reading." Mai replied,

shrugging off Monk's concern. 

"Maybe we should take you back to the hospital, just in case." Ayako mused as she brushed a strand of hair from Mai's face. 

"Hmmmm." 

A sudden bang at the door was heard and Mai stood up to open it. A whirlwind of papers came flying through the door, in the midst stood Yasuhara. 

**So yeah, admittedly not a lot of action happens in this chapter but you do need the back story to understand the next one. And Naru will turn up soon! See you next week, Byeeeee**


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